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A police squad in China claims it's trained squirrels to detect the smell of drugs

ASMA KHALID, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Asma Khalid.

A police squad in China claims it successfully trained squirrels to detect the smell of drugs. Police sources told local news outlets that the squirrel's keen sense of smell and flexibility make them uniquely suited for the task. And though the squirrels have not been deployed yet, news of the rodent troop went viral on Chinese social media. So a word to those drug-sniffing dogs - these drug-sniffing squirrels might just chase you out of a job.

It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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